What color is Haven's hair today?

Soul Blossoms

I think this might be the most colorful thing I've ever worn in my entire life. Mom?

Did you know Amy Butler had a line of Rayon? Yep. I Swoon! This line is called Soul Blossoms. Not new, but I heard the rayon was a newer addition to the line.

The pattern is Simplicity 3887, which I downloaded from printsew.com. I don't particularly enjoy piecing together patterns off the printer, BUT I love instant gratification. The last time I made this pattern I used a sheer fabric that was a bear to cut out. (I guess I never posted version #1...) For this fabric I used heavy spray starch to make the fabric more stiff while cutting out and sewing. Worked like a charm!

I made the jeans too. This is technically my third pair of jeans, but the second pair were meant for Haven and turned out TERRIBLE! Unwearable. (The pattern's fault, not my sewing.) But good practice nonetheless.

I think I have almost cracked the code for the perfect fitting jeans. These just went a little too low in the back. They aren't real conducive to bending over. I started out with a Burda Young pattern, but it's been tweaked so much it truly is no longer that pattern. It's my own at this point.

This outfit was from my Fall Wardrobe Challenge, which I am just now getting around to working on again. Whoops. Better late than never! And with the weather here, I can still wear fall clothes a little longer, so it's all good.

Catching Up

I got a little behind on posting, so this one is mostly for the family to see the kids. (And by family I of course also mean my friends who read who are practically family! You know who you are!)

Some of you asked for a picture of Haven's blond hair. Well, this was a goofy pic we took one day when she had a little too much fun with the hair dryer.

 Her hair is now black again. Yep. Blonde is hard to maintain when you're naturally a brunette. She got tired of it. The kids at school were heard saying "How many times CAN a person dye their hair?" To which we say, we'll let you know when we get there. I figure hair color is one of the safest forms of self-expression available to a kid and I SO don't want her exploring some of the alternatives the other kids are already doing.

Ethan made a bird house at church over the course of a couple of weeks. He is so proud of it!

He even got to cut the boards with a little saw. He told me about its progress every Sunday. It turned out adorable! The nets are little baggies of bird food and nuts.

This is it sitting outside on a plant stand. It's too cold outside to stand out there long enough to figure out how to hang it from the balcony overhang!

And here's a few shots of Ethan's Valentine's Day party at school.

 The Valentine's Gobbler in action!

Someday I hope Ethan will be more comfortable in front of the camera. He always gets this wide eyed crazy camera face when I point the lens at him!

Here he is with his BEST friend.  

 And his teacher playing a round of Valentine's cake walk.

And his table-mates in his class. 

As Seen on Pinterest - Valentine's Day

This is Ethan's first year to have Valentine's Day in an American school, and so the first year for him to exchange Valentines. The whole time we were preparing he kept asking what we were doing, why, and what would happen if he was the only one who showed up with anything! 

Since it was his first one I wanted it to be cool. So first thing was choosing the Valentines box. I wanted to do a German style mailbox, but he liked the monster box that's been floating around the internet. So here's his box:

I loved the way these cake pops were used as party favors. They're so pretty! So I decided to finally get on the cake pops bandwagon! Since it was pretty last minute I didn't have the candy coating you're supposed to use, so I used milk chocolate. The cake is strawberry with strawberry frosting. If you want to make your own, here's one of the most famous cake pop recipes.

I used a meat baller to make the balls uniform. For my friends who said they had never heard of a meat baller, here's a picture. This worked great!

I saw several "I love you Because" and "I love you more than" ideas for Valentine's Day. I decided to do the wipe off board so that we can change it and both get in on the fun! This is just an 8x10 frame with the design printed on cardstock. We use dry erase markers to make the note.

There are so many fun "I love you more than" ideas out there! One of the cute ones was "I love you more than SpongeBob loves jelly fishing." I've got to find some Star Wars quotes... Then he'll REALLY know I love him!

Beaded Wrap Bracelet

Did you know you can "Pin" videos? You can! 

We just got some new waxed cord in at the shop and this is what I was excited to make with it!

We also sell loose beads and have bead boards and tools at the "Bead Bar" where you can sit and work on your creation. No need to buy tons of stuff when you just want to make one of something.

This bracelet took 41 little beads, but I wish I had made it longer. I thought it would wrap three times, but it ended up only going around twice. It's pretty though! I can't wait to make another one!

Want to make your own? It was really easy! I watched this video tutorial to learn how.

I could have called this "As Seen on Pinterest, part 2." Maybe I should start a series... like every Friday or something. Of course that would require actually making something every week... we'll see!

Denim Skirt

I needed a basic denim skirt - so I made one! I pinned one from Land's End for inspiration, so I thought it would be fitting to take pictures out in nature!

If you can't tell on your screen, I AM wearing a t-shirt under the blouse. Yes, my skin is that pale that it blends in with a white shirt.

 The back pocket has some iron-on bling.

I used a blue jeans pattern but cut the legs straight down instead of curved for the crotch. Does that make sense? I had to make quite a few adjustments to the back to get it right, but it worked pretty well. 

As seen on Pinterest

Raise your hand if you're on Pinterest! How many of your family members asked you why you raised your hand? If you don't have a Pinterest account yet, what are you waiting for? Oh, you think it might be so addictive that it sucks all your free time and you'll never accomplish anything again ever? Well, there's that. BUT there's also stuff like THIS:

I saw a KNIT pattern for a scarf sweater, but I don't knit. So I filed it away in dream land. And then I found this tutorial for how the sweater is constructed, and the blogger crocheted hers. BINGO!

Now that I see my pictures I realize I should have done one more iteration of the pattern. It should have been wider. Here's a close-up of the chevron pattern. (The line in the middle is the back seam.)

This took me a little less than a week and was mostly done in the evenings watching TV with the hubby. Nice and relaxing! It's alpaca yarn. It's nice and snuggly, but due to my insane sensitivity to any fiber that came from an animal I have to wear it over a tightly woven shirt.

I really like the result but want to try again making it wider. The only drawback is you can't raise your arms very high. And you have to kind of adjust it all day so it stays where it should. Worth it though!

Anyway... so are you on Pinterest? If so, put a link to your boards in the comments! I would love to see what inspires you!